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Seniors look back on career as football team ends season 4-3 BY KEELEY BERNARD co-sports editor
Senior quarterback Will Pettit prepares to hand the ball off against Portage on Sept. 11. PHOTO BY GILLAN GATLEY
The football team’s season ended against Merrillville in the sectional semifinals on 0ct. 30, where they lost 39 - 0. Despite the loss, Coach Kevin Enright is proud of the hard work his team put in this season. “We feel all members of our group worked extremely hard through difficult and unprecedented adversity to reach its potential, and we’re proud of that,” Enright said. Although Enright feels all members of the team worked hard, he highlighted the leadership from the seniors as important to the team’s success. “Our seniors lead our group with the courage and determination that exemplifies success,” Enright said. “Their willingness, selflessness, and sacrifice for the goal of playing football with their buddies was, without a doubt, inspirational for everyone.”
Senior captain Matthew Walters reflected on the last game against Merrillville and the team’s season as a whole. “I think that the team as a whole could have performed better against Merrillville but not playing any games for almost a month definitely took a toll on all of us,” Walters said. “But the team’s overall season I think went pretty good given the situation we were dealing with and I think everyone got better every week.” With this season over, Enright looks forward to next season and what his team will be able to do. “We will continue to challenge all members of our football program to develop an unbelievable work ethic, and a willingness to accept personal differences, for amazing team chemistry,” Enright said. “ If we accomplish this, we will achieve true success, and reach our potential both academically and athletically.”
Girls golf wraps up season with 11th at state BY NOAH THOMAS co-editor-in-chief Girls golf ended their season on a high note, finishing 11th at the state meet at Carmel. The girls assistant coach Johanna Hess says the girls were successful this season due to their teamwork and cohesiveness. “Our team put in a lot of hard work over the season. It took a lot of determination, skill, and smart course management to get to that level of play, especially on a very difficult state course. Our team this year, including everyone from the number one spot to the JV squad, functioned as a great cohesive unit,” Hess said. “When one person didn’t play their best round, someone else stepped in to fill the role we needed that day. We didn’t have any athletes that were out for themselves – everyone was focused on what they could do to help the team. Even though golf is in many ways an individual sport, it is still very much a team effort. We needed everyone to play a consistent game this season to get to the point
where we won our sectional and qualified for state.” Senior Isabella Weiss helped contribute to the state team this season, looked back to the last four years she was on the team and how that contributed to her season to the hard work her teammates and herself put in. “We practiced everyday with each other and on our own and I think of hard work and just trying to have fun while doing it,” Weiss said. “We are a very competitive team so just competing against each other and ourselves really helped. We have had a very successful four years being able to compete at state three times which is a huge accomplishment for me and the twins [seniors Delaney Adams and Madelyn Adams].” The issue facing all high school teams this year was the COVID-19 pandemic. Though golf is a non-contact sport, the pandemic’s danger still lies. Sophomore Jasmine Harper believes the team handled the pandemic in a very safe manner.
“I feel we navigated the pandemic very well. We all would socially distance whenever we could, wore masks around others, stayed home if we didn’t feel well, and didn’t go out with large groups. Golf is a team sport, but it is also very independent. We were able to practice safely very easily because we don’t need to be near each other to practice,” Harper said. The future of the program will have to replace seniors Delaney Adams, Madelyn Adams, and Isabella Weiss next season. Harper believes her and the other underclassmen are up to the task. “I feel very confident about the future of our program. I think we can get to state again with our girls we have now and the ones coming up. Our coaches and teammates really push us to get better. Although, the seniors were a huge part of our team, and I think we all are going to really miss them. They were phenomenal varsity players all four years, and they really lifted our team mentally and physically,” Harper said.
